An all-British bout between Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington is set to take place at the Utilita Arena in Sheffield on October 7, and boxing fans in the United Kingdom are going to be fired up for the contest as 35-year-old Wood put his WBA featherweight title on the line against his 32-year-old counterpart.
It is of particular interest for those from Yorkshire, as two of their own are due to trade blows in the squared circle. Preference will be for Wood as he fights in his own backyard, but Warrington is only from up the road in Leeds, and the former IBF featherweight champion is sure to bring a big following with him down the M1.
With the countdown to fight night on, let’s take a look at the tale of the tape and analyse the chances of the two fighters.
Age
As already mentioned, Wood is the older of the two fighters by just over two years. However, age isn’t going to play a big factor in this bout as the Sheffield native has already proven it’s little more than a number with his recent victories over 25-year-old Mauricio Lara and 31-year-old Michael Conlan.
Odds
It will come as no surprise that Wood is the heavy favourite in the boxing odds at 4/11. After all, he is fighting on home turf and is the current WBA featherweight title holder. He is most likely to win via decision though, with odds of 11/10 while a victory by KO/TKO is 5/2. Warrington is 2/1 to win the bout, with a stoppage fancied at 6/1 and a win via decision coming in at 7/2.
Record
Wood and Warrington have very similar records going into this fight. The former has fought 30 times professionally, winning 27 and losing three. Two of those defeats have come in his last five fights, however, as Wood lost his WBO European featherweight title to Jazza Dickens at the York Hall in 2020 and more recently lost his WBA featherweight belt to Lara in Nottingham before winning it back from the Mexican in Manchester last time out.
Warrington has fought 34 times, and his record reads 31-2-1. ‘The Leeds Warrior’ went 30-0 before suffering his defeat to the aforementioned Lara, as he was TKOd in the ninth round at the Wembley Arena in February 2021. Their second bout was stopped and called a draw due to an accidental head clash just two rounds in. Warrington bounced back with a victory over veteran Kiko Martinez in Leeds to win the IBF featherweight title for a second time, but he lost it to Luis Alberto Lopes last time out.
Physicality
Yep, you guessed it — there’s barely anything to separate Wood and Warrington physically. Both fighters are 5ft7in tall, and both have identical reaches of 67in (170cm). So, neither gain a height or reach advantage.
Tale of the tape
Wood vs Warrington:
Age: 35 vs 32
Fights: 30 vs 34
Wins: 27 vs 31
Loses: 3 vs 2
Draws: 0 vs 1
KOs: 16 vs 8
Height: 5ft7in vs 5ft7in
Reach: 67in vs 67in